Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
I feel that in today’s generation, with our English language and all of the adjectives we have to describe things, the word ‘Good’ seems like a dull and unimportant word. But… read these scriptures:
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.”
“God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.”
“God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good.”
“The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”
“So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
“So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”
“God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and”
I cannot help but think of the dimension of that word ‘Good’. God, the Almighty Heavenly Father, the creation of ALL says it is all Good. So, when He speaks of the Holy Spirit filling us with the Spiritual Gift of Goodness, then there is a dimension to this word ‘Good’ that we humans do not, cannot fully understand.
“All the Israelite’s were watching when the fire descended, and the glory of the Lord came on the temple. They bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and praised the Lord: For He is good, for His faithful love endures forever.”
In the second part of Romans 2:4 it says,
“The goodness of God leads you to repentance.”
What is Goodness?
A fresh sweet fruit is good.
A desert, chocolate, one of my favorites, is good.
An obedient pet is good.
A child that eats all of their dinner is good.
I do not understand the bible’s original language and I do not know what word “Good” in the bible is translated from. My imagination says its like the different types of ‘love’ words in the bible. The original language has several words that we translate ‘love’ from, each with its own meaning and depth. Maybe it is the same with the word ‘Good’. But I do not have to know Latin or Greek to know that the word ‘Good’ used in the bible is more meaningful than our human understanding can fathom. Personally, I feel the word ‘Good’ used in the bible is even more powerful that the word ‘Awesome’. So when ‘Goodness’ is listed as a Fruit of the Spirit, my thoughts go to wholesome, sweet and Angelic. Dare I say Holy?
As I write about each Spiritual Gift, I am reminded that these gifts are so much more than the words. So much more than the meaning we humans put to these words. These gifts are for all of Gods children. For all of us who accept Jesus Christ as our savior. And Jesus died for EVERYONE! John 3:16. So that means these are available for everybody who accept Jesus Christ as Savior! They are ours! Yet, we children of God, sadly fail to accept them. Me included. We fail to freely let them indwell us. We do not deserve them. We do not earn them. They are gifts!
How much better would our world be if just current children of God accepted those gifts. What if we let these Gifts of the Holy Spirit fill us? Now THAT would be a true REVIVAL! And at that moment, how could those who don’t already know Jesus as Savior not know Him?
Stop where you are. If you and your Christian family and friends would open and humbly accept these gifts, what would happen? We would not need to worry about all the hate and evil in the world. We would not need to point out the sin in the other person. By accepting the Holy Spirits Gifts, others would be brought to repentance and would accept Christ as their Savior, simply by witnessing God’s goodness in us! I genuinely believe this!
Writing these blogs is opening my eyes to how I am squelching the Holy Spirit. I am in awe and ashamed when I think about it. When I write these words, these blogs, I am not the expert. I am the student. God is the expert! The Holy Spirit is who writes through me! My prayer is that I allow the Holy Spirit to use my personality to say HIS words, not mine. And that He will bring both you the reader and me closer to Him, our Father Almighty.
Real genuine Goodness. Letting go, letting the Holy Spirit Fill Us. Let’s let go and let the Holy Spirit flow Genuine Goodness through us. Do not try, do not force, do not pretend, just let.